15th September 2006 Archive

Red Hat has lurched closer toward the Xen server virtualization package by including the software in a beta release of its server operating system. And now the company is begging people to test out just how well Xen functions with RHEL 5.

No system works perfectly all the time, but for something as fundamental as being able to prove who you are and get access to what you’re supposed to be able to do, we need to set things up so there’s a fall-back plan.

Apple has updated its Windows-on-Mac utility, Boot Camp. The latest release, version 1.1.1 and still a beta test incarnation, primarily incorporates support for the Apple's recently released Core 2 Duo-based iMacs.

JVC has developed what it claims is the "ideal sound source" loudspeaker. Well, almost - the company described its "pulsating sphere" system as "very close" to its goal of creating "a natural, near-perfect sound field".

There was a time when Britons could leave the security of their homes and venture forth safe in the knowledge that in the unlikely event of falling down a manhole, their fellow citizens would at least have the courtesy to stop and enquire: "Hello, are you from the Water Board or are you down that manhole involuntarily?"

We at the Vulture Central LogoWatch Soviet have a shameful admission to make this morning: we've been holding off on reporting on the new Virgin Galactic logo in the hope that, in return for our silence, Sir Richard Branson would call and offer us the free space-flight ticket which William Shatner recently turned down.

Trolltech's Linux-based handset, the Greenphone, will set curious coders back at least $695, the company has revealed. The device, announced in August this year, it pitched at software developers rather than consumers or businesspeople.

While doing some research for another project I came across an arguably old idea being re-visited - or perhaps that should read "disinterred". Parallel processing is, a growing number of people believe, not just the way of the future but the only way real development progress is likely to be made in future.

This one just isn't going away. To recap, for those who did not fingerprint themselves into earlier lessons: The information Comissioner's Office rules that schools can fingerprint pupils without parental consent. You are all outraged.

The Apple iPhone displayed on a French news magazine this week may not be the Real McCoy, but behind the scenes the development of the Mac maker's first foray into phone hardware is continuing apace with a view to an early 2007 introduction, it has been claimed.

An American woman has been accused of trying to hire someone to kill her ex-boyfriend's new lover after finding her details listed on his MySpace page. According to Arizona police, 22-year Heather Kane old paid an undercover officer $400, promising a further $600 once the job was done.

Xbox 360 buffs who think their next-generation games console is just too darned bulky for gaming on move - not to mention the TV you'd have to lug around - should take heart from fellow fan Ben Heckendorn who decided enough was enough and re-configured his console into a laptop form-factor.

A US court has ordered anti-spam organisation Spamhaus to pay $11.7m in damages for "illegally" listing email marketing firm e360insight as an affiliate of a known spammer, an entry that meant users of Spamhaus's mail filtering advisory system would not have received email from e360insight. The Illinois court also imposed an injunction on Spamhaus against interfering with e360insight's email marketing activities without sufficient evidence in future.

Toshiba is to update its North American HD DVD player line-up, the company said yesterday, bringing the US-oriented products launch in March this year into line with the European models announced earlier this month.

European authorities squaring up to the US over its secret surveillance of international financial records were caught off-guard when the firm caught in the middle of the tussle failed to volunteer key evidence.

The three biggest home computer names are the ones consumers are most likely to recommend to friends, a Which? survey said today, suggesting branding has as much power in the consumer PC market as it does for sports shoes.

Optical drive maker Lite-On has decided to support the HD DVD next-generation optical disc format as well as rival technology Blu-ray Disc. Lite-On's first, half-height HD DVD drive will come to market in March 2007, it said.

Nintendo will ship its Wii console in Europe on Friday, 8 December, six days after the machine's Japanese debut and three weeks after the next-generation gaming system ships in the US. Wii will retail for around £179/€249, Nintendo said.

The Federal Trade Commission, the US consumer rights watchdog, has succeeded in shutting down four illegal spamming operations judged to have breached federal anti-spam laws. Targets of the lawsuits included an operation that offered the supposed chance to "date lonely wives" and two outfits that allegedly bombarded unwilling recipients with lurid ads for pornographic web sites, sent via compromised PCs.

The SD37P2 is the first Core 2 Duo-ready small form-factor XPC from Shuttle, but it has far more than support for Intel's latest processor on offer. For anyone looking at building a high-end SFF system, the SD37P2 supports ATI's CrossFire - the first SFF PC to do so - although you're limited to single slot cards. Is this the most powerful barebone from Shuttle as yet?

The Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) has blasted Hewlett-Packard after it was revealed that a private investigator was hired to obtain phone records of conversations between journalists and HP board members.

An Irish lobby group aims to dismantle Europe's laws forcing telecoms firms to retain phone and internet data on citizens. The group, Digital Rights Ireland, is taking a case both against the Irish Government and the European Directive on data retention.

Freescale Semi has accepted a $17.6bn offer from private-equity investors to buy the company. But there is a peculiar twist: the chip maker has reserved the right to seek a higher offer from other suitors over the next 50 days.